Niketas bishop of Methone (tenth century)
Obverse
Bust of St. John the Theologian blessing and holding book. Vertical inscription: |ω| | |Λ,: Ὁ ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Θεολόγος. Remains of a circular inscription. No visible border.
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines followed by a row of pellets. Border of dots.
ΝΙΚΗ
ΤΑΕΠΙΣ.
ΟΠΜΕ
ΘΟΝΗΣ
Νικήτᾳ ἐπισκόπῳ Μεθόνης
Obverse
Bust of St. John the Theologian blessing and holding book. Vertical inscription: |ω| | |Λ,: Ὁ ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Θεολόγος. Remains of a circular inscription. No visible border.
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines followed by a row of pellets. Border of dots.
ΝΙΚΗ
ΤΑΕΠΙΣ.
ΟΠΜΕ
ΘΟΝΗΣ
Νικήτᾳ ἐπισκόπῳ Μεθόνης
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.248 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 19.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 30.1. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Νικήτᾳ ἐπισκόπῳ Μεθόνης.
Lord, help your servant Niketas bishop of Methone.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
- Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Today Methone, in the southwestern tip of the Peloponnesos. The ancient city is still attested in the 6th century; the bishopric may have already existed in the 4th century, but it emerges in the early 9th as a suffragan of the newly created metropolis of Patras. It is mentioned in the controversial iconoclastic notitia (as a suffragan of Corinth) and then in all notitiae, starting with that of Leo VI, under Patras (Darrouzès, Notitiae, no. 3, line 762; no. 7, line 551). See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 482; Fedalto, 510; ODB II, 1356. As the cathedral of Methone was dedicated to St. John the Theologian (NE 7 [1910] 156-57), this saint appears on most seals of its bishops.